Do you get the flu shot every year?

[Torgent]

I support the flu vaccine but hyperbole doesn't serve any purpose here. There is a HUGE divide between actual malpractice and being apathetic to the flu shot.

Actually it is 100% malpractice for a physician to be treating someone if they themselves have not been vaccinated. They could be spreading the flu to at risk patients.

[BEYR]

The last three years i got a flu shot I got the flu.(Not FROM the shot, but it apparently didn't help.) In the 7 years since I've only gotten it once. Seems a bit counter-intuitive to me now. I'm not outright against them. Especially for the young, old and sick. But I wont be getting one any time soon.

[Suikoden]

I don't bother getting an annual flu shot because I'm not frequently out and about. :/

[Dakia]

The last three years i got a flu shot I got the flu.(Not FROM the shot, but it apparently didn't help.) In the 7 years since I've only gotten it once. Seems a bit counter-intuitive to me now. I'm not outright against them. Especially for the young, old and sick. But I wont be getting one any time soon.

It can't possibly cover all strains. It only covers what is likely to be the most prevalent or severe.

[Airwaves]

No. I get a cold once a year. Almost exactly the same time, get over it and never get sick again untill the next year. So I don't see the point.

[Annoying]

Getting a flu shot has nothing to do with *you* not getting sick. It has everything to do with the people who are at serious health risks getting sick.

Herd Immunity.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Man, this thread is making me sad. People just proving they don't know wtf they're talking about.




On a side note, I'm at least glad that a lot of them realize the importance of general long term immunizations. Measles outbreaks where whole communities have rejected immunizing their children makes me facepalm.

[Zaydin]

I had the flu once in... it was either in 2000 or 2001. I never want it again, so I make sure I get my flu shot every year.

[Korrawi]

Man, this thread is making me sad. People just proving they don't know wtf they're talking about.




On a side note, I'm at least glad that a lot of them realize the importance of general long term immunizations. Measles outbreaks where whole communities have rejected immunizing their children makes me facepalm.

Except you won't ever immunize against flu. It's been around for a long time, and it won't go away pretty soon.
Virus mutates, so new vaccine needs to be made. Imo, it's kinda pointless.
I think if you're in reasonable health, your immune system can take care of it.
I don't get the flu shot, never have, prolly never will. I ain't dead yet.

[Catta]

Except you won't ever immunize against flu. It's been around for a long time, and it won't go away pretty soon.
Virus mutates, so new vaccine needs to be made. Imo, it's kinda pointless.
I think if you're in reasonable health, your immune system can take care of it.
I don't get the flu shot, never have, prolly never will. I ain't dead yet.

You do realize that inevitably you will end up in the risk group by virtue of old age right. And without vaccines or previous bouts of flu you will be even more at risk than the rest.

[Masark]

Except you won't ever immunize against flu. It's been around for a long time, and it won't go away pretty soon.
Virus mutates, so new vaccine needs to be made. Imo, it's kinda pointless.
I think if you're in reasonable health, your immune system can take care of it.

1. And? Tetanus isn't going away, ever, but it's still a real good idea to be vaccinated.

2. Which we do annually.

3. Or you can carry the flu to someone who doesn't have such a robust immune system. Or your Hulk-class immune system can seriously wreck you.

[Deleted]

It's funny though, that in my 34 years I've not heard people talking about an annual flu vaccination here in Finland once, except after all the hubbub during the first bird- or swine flu outbreak. Never was such a thing done when I was a child, never was such a thing talked about in school, by my parents, by my friends, by their parents. Never has it been in the news, in the media, in the papers, anywhere. I can't say that I would know a single person who has ever taken a flu vaccination, ever.

I'm not saying that people here don't take it, obviously. I'm just saying that for me, it's a completely foreign thing, that nobody I've ever known has ever taken. I have been vaccinated as a child, and when I went to the army, but that's all, and I have no idea if those had anything to do with the flu; most likely not.

I don't see huge flu outbreaks here in this country, though. I mean, if people here don't get vaccinated, there should be huge outbreaks, right? There should've been some, during the past three decades, right? I mean, there've been the usual cases of your typical workplace flu that everyone at a certain workplace gets, or the typical army/school/kindergarten flu, but I know of not a single case where it would've been extreme, and mostly the disease has passed in a few days, a week at most.

I must be missing something.

[Masark]

It's funny though, that in my 34 years I've not heard people talking about an annual flu vaccination here in Finland once, except after all the hubbub during the first bird- or swine flu outbreak. Never was such a thing done when I was a child, never was such a thing talked about in school, by my parents, by my friends, by their parents. Never has it been in the news, in the media, in the papers, anywhere. I can't say that I would know a single person who has ever taken a flu vaccination, ever.

Finland's health authorities apparently only recommend flu vaccination to those between 6 months and 3 years and those over 65, plus specific at-risk groups, so that's probably why.

Other countries in Europe (e.g. Austria and Estonia) recommend that everyone get an annual flu vaccination. My province recommends the same.

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=19700

[Ryme]

Don't think I've ever had an annual one, neither has anyone I know. Never gotten flu, don't know anyone who has.

Lucky me?

[Snaige]

Finland's health authorities apparently only recommend flu vaccination to those between 6 months and 3 years and those over 65, plus specific at-risk groups, so that's probably why.

Other countries in Europe (e.g. Austria and Estonia) recommend that everyone get an annual flu vaccination. My province recommends the same.

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=19700

Aha that would explain why my doctor parents think that flu vaccine is unnecessary nonsense The countries that you mentioned, Austria and Estonia, are the only ones in Europe recommending it for adults.

[Bigbazz]

To all the people above: if you're a healthy individual, you should still get the flu shot. Not to protect yourself, but to protect those around you who a)have a weakened immune system or b) can not get the flu shot due to allergies/previous reactions. It's similar to any other vaccine in that regard; it's overall effectiveness is determined by the amount of people vaccinated. A healthy individual can have the flu and be asymptomatic or just think they have a stubborn cold. You can easily pass it on to others, still.

I've had the flu once when I was a kid (10-13 or so), by that I mean a proper flu can't move for 2 weeks worst illness of my life kinda sickness, most people I've heard who talk about flu actually have not really had it, but have a nasty cold or stomach bug type effort + headache combination that they call the flu. I had a friend who used say he had a flu when he had a headache and a nose sniffle.

A real flu will absolutely floor you to the point where you think you're going to die. I've been ill with nasty colds or much less severe versions a few times since then but generally I'm very healthy and maybe get a cold 1-2x per year (that the flu shot will do nothing to stop). I don't like injections, never have and getting a flu shot is not a normal thing for people here, I don't know anybody who has had it.